BOOK NOTICES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14357, 29 October 1908, Page 2

BOOK NOTICES.

•" The Power of a. Lie." By Johan Bojer; translated from the Norwegian by .lo.t.cic Muir, with introduction by Halt Caine. London: \V. Ileineiaami. (Cloth, 2s Gd.) In Hall Caine's introduction of this famous Norwegian story lie. says:—"This i ti a gu Ti book. L can have no hesitation (vliatevir in saying that. Rarely in reading a modern novel ha.vo 1 felt so strong u sense of reality and so deep an impreseion of motive. 11, -would be dillicuii. to praise 100 highly tiao power and the reticence of this story., ... its high seriousness, its almost, relentless strength. . . Its atmosphere is often wonderful, sometimes startling . . . all its characters bear (lie .''.tamp of troth, and; some of them ale deeply impressive. . . . The theme is a nolile one*." We agree with every word oi' this criticism, and yet it, anpears to ii-, thai. Mr Hall Caine -n his further analysis of I,he. tale does not truly interpret, the e-Qthor's motive, v/hic-li is not merely to show "that an evil net is irrevocable," but in emphasise the far more subtile truth than a. man's eharactcv cannot be judged by a. sijigle isolated act, but that under stress of great temptation lie may fail to reach Iris own ideal, and that, having done so, it is inevitable that he should try to justify himself to himself by making out the strangest- possible ease against the other side, in the story belore us we see that, in proportion as the hero is able to do this, to quiet his own conscience, and make black appear white to himself, his sjarits rise; the'fear of possible detection is changed into an unvoiced thankfulness ancl satisfaction, which finds expression in words and deeds of kindness to all around. The man is rehabilitated in his own eyes, and by repeated acts of virtue tlio crime is condoned. To himself ho appears to be "paying the price," as surely as if be had. and been pr.t into prison. In (bis particular case the man to whom the wrong has been done is a fraudulent, bankrupt. He sets the. wrong done to him against the many wrongs he has done to others, and allows it to cover and overehadow them all, and in dwelling upon it ignores or justifies a, whole course of selfishness, self-inciuigcncc, and fraud. The misery of his wife, the deaths of his child and father-in-law. the impoverishment trusting friends are thought,, by Qiim to be due, not to his own inherent ■weakness and want of celf-control, but to the crime of another. In each case it is the inner nature and not the isolated act which really counts in its effect on character. Therefore. Mr Hall Ciiiue's moral objection to the story as " a teaching of which I utterly disapprove," appears to us to be based on an error. If wo understand the giieat Norwegian novelist -aright, lie (strikes a far deeper note than appears upon tho surfacc—thatof the persistence of character in spite of isolated acts, which in slight degree modify, but do not reaJly change, it. Thatthe right may bo worsted in the battle of life, and that tlie wrong rfiay triumph," is a fact of tremendous importance with which we are all only too familiar, and to sec this fine theme treated by so great a student of human nature us Johan Bojer is very helpful, and leads us to a wider and deeper conception of the broad issues of human life and conduct. Extraordinary interest- and discussion/ has been aroused in Europe by this book, "The I'ower of a Lie." It has been crowned by the French Academy. No one can read it without being stirred, touched, and made to think deeply. The moral is never paraded—it is for each one lo tal;o or leave. And, finally, the translation of Miss Jessie Muir is so excellent that the reader i,-, never once reminded that it is a translation, but reads from the lirst to the last, page withouta single drawback. "A Prisoner in Iloly-Orders."' By James Alexander. London: George Koutledge and Sons. (Cloth, 3s Gd.) It is extremely difficult to tell whether liiis narrative is fact or fiction, fact touched with fiction, or tiction. founded on fact. It professes to be the life history of one Stephen Helwyn, clerk in Holy Orders, and on the title page and in ihe preface this person is put before the reader as an historical fact: ''it has been my privilege to enioy the close lriendeliip of the hero," from whose "letkn's, note-books, and published works" tho volume has been compiled. The style is abrupt, Colloquial, fidt of errors in composition, and marks the tyro in literature; but much of the matter is extremely interesting, and, whether voicing the opinions of Mr Helwyn or Mr Alexander, is worthy of serious consideration. The tlory proper is of the slightest, and where there is any attempt at " working up'' the result is almost' ludicrous; but it shows us the tine, clean, robust, personality of a muscular Christian, after the pattern beloved of Charles Kingsley— one to whom children, dogs, and " failures" turned with passionate devotion, but who had no patience with humbug in any shape or form, and was unsparing in his denunciation of "cant," especially in high places, The first part of the book shows how Stephen coines of a good but impoverished family, why he chose the Anglican priesthood as his vocation, and i« enlivened by a number of humorous tales of the true clerical type, some of which we recognise as Joe Miller's. After ordination he goes to visit his married brother in the West Indies, and travejs t-wicc round the world, labouring in distant lands on mellibds entirely his own, and winning golden opinions from all sorts and conditions of men. Tiie deaths of his mother—to whom he was devotedly atkehed—and of Ihe lady to whom he was engaged, also his own serious illness, throw a deep shadow over a hitherto happy and strenuous life. Mr Alexander takes this opportunity to give ns about a hundred pages of his hero's (or his own) impressions of various parts of the British-Colonial Empire, containing i-omc clinging truths, soino greatly exaggerated half-truth?, and some statements that have no truth at all. Chiefly lie dwells on the blindness and folly of the British nation in allowing the Americans and Germans to slip into their position of proud supremacy, mental, material, and commercial. All countries " outstrip Britain." He inveighs against "the decreasing birth rate," etc., soundly abuses the Anglican methods of Church government, and while scorning " ritualists," gives the palm to Roman methods, though aiot to lioman uoctrine. Mr Hclwyn's personal history now becomes a- mere chapter of accidents, culminating in a false accusation, which lands him in gaol, where he has to pass a six months' sentence. The description which follows of the disgusting filth and general abomination of Hie "English prieons is grossly exaggerated; but. as no names are given the general accusation can only be generally denied. On Hclwyn's release irom gaol his bvollier clcrgy refuse, to rehabilitate him, and the Bishop's Court suspends his license for lwo_ years. Another SO or 60 pages are now devoted to theological disquisitions: the Old and New Testaments are assailed, and the past and present- evils iu the Anglican.Church mercilessly pilloried. .Stephen's "last, vestige of faith is rudely torn away." but he still continues to lead a ''life of temperance, soberness, and charity," giving the blankets off his bed, the clothes off his back, tin} food from his itoutli to those who are in greater noed than himself, and whom he always cia-ims as his " brothers." At last, worn out by sickness, loneliness, and "worry," lie elite peacefully in a- cathedral, and because a bottle of poison is found in his pocket, also a sarcastic letter apologising for the 1 rouble he will give his diocesan of "rerunsccrotiiij; tiw tarred building," his death is attributed to suicide: a conulusion which seems not unnatural, but which might have been decided -by an autopsy. We are, however, emphatically 1o!d that " bv the slow but murderous process of worry, kindly Death had voluntarily come to his aid and removed him from the cruel world that had fo grievously afflicted him," and which now pronounces upon him " another wrong verdict," Lest we in our ignorance should do the same, we take leave of this extraordinary volume with the. verdict of the canny Scot—"Not proven."

" The. Pursuer.'' P>y Moiico flerard, London: llodder ami ftloughton. Dunodin: I!. .1. f<tark and Co, (.3s Gil, 2s Gd.) I''ew living novelists have advanced moil- rapidly in popular favour llian Mr Moiico Oerard; Ins stories are always amusing and v.-liol: some, full ol frolic and adventure, but. free Irotn any prurient (■ligation, In "The. Pursuer'' we have a touch of modern polities, and are introduved to sundry I'oreign Office officials ami a King's Mercemrer. The behind-the-scenes atmosphere tluis obtained is always pleasing to the lay reader, establishing a port ol mutual confidence between him and the author. In the present instance the politics concern Knginud, Russia, and Uuabia--ihe latter one of those mythological Suites to which .Mr Anthony Hope and ollters love to introduce, n-, The •■■chonie concerns a possible rebellion and ■the necessary munitions of war. which naturally are to lie obtained via Portsmonth. The elsarnc! ers include a slraightionvard, capable, but unsuspicious JJritifh ollicer— Colonel I'tanl; Fennor, —a tsliady Russian agitator, a still shadier Greei: adventurer, the King's Messenger aforesaid, sundry unimportant supers, and two beautiful women. And the scenes are laid on an ocean liner in London, on a destroyer in mid-Channel, and in a mysterious old castle, formerly a fortress and haunt of smugglers, on I lie Devon coast. With .such' materials the author could hardly fa ! i to give his readers something startling and adventurous. Mr Moriee Gerard fills the bill. The pursuit of one motor car by another during the dark hours of the night, from London to Castle Court, provide many thrilling scenes, and when ''The Pursuer" falls into the trap prepared for him, gets bis motor smashed up, and himself nearly in the same condition, the reader is as excited as it is possible to bo when he knows that all must, end well. Again, the action on board the destroyer Tartan, when the ?,ird of Passage is blown up, shows considerable mastery over dramatic and Bensational incidents; while the. sentimental scenes are all that, they should be, neither too hot nor too cold. It is unfortunate that the -hero cannot marry two women, but even that dilliculty if, happily surmounted. Kaeli of the ladies is supplied with a suitable partner for life, and the volume ends with a peal of wedding bells. "Paradise and the Porryp." By Lilian Turner (Mrs Lindsay Thompson). London : Ward, Lock, and Co. Dtinedin: J'. J. Starl; and (Jo. (Cloth, 3s 6(1.) The, title of Lilian Turner'.-: Christmas book is slightly reminiscent, of Moore's fatnous poem, but here the analogy ends. The "paradise" of the present story is a- dilapidated college about nine miles out of Sydney, with a beautiful but neglected garden and other "possibilities," which the Perry-—fours girls and their motherconvert into a very delectable kiosk for dispensing all sort.s of dainty dishes to hungry motorists and cyclists, who soon learn to appreciate and pay handsomely for their "oyster sauce," "Dutch llumniery," " home-made' butter." and other delicacies. The story is fresh and lively, iind js sure lo set the girls who read it longing for a career of their own, somewhat more remunerative and less hackneyed than that of a teacher or a typiste. The talc is full of lively dialogue, and gives a pleasant peep into Australian home life. The- characters of the four girls arc varied and natural, and Tlico, who desires to art as "roan of the family," is ,m. amusing illustration of the difference between fact and fancy; the "would-be" heroine, who "loses her head" on every sudden emergency; the "would-be" nurse, wdio faints at the sight of blood. The lesson of the beauty of poise and the value of self-control is well given and without any direct preaching, and is thus likely to go home to the hearts of those for whom it is written,